


Elementary

by Phoenix7



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Anime), Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, Pokemon GO
Genre: Developing Friendships, Friendship, Gen, One Shot Collection
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-30
Updated: 2018-05-22
Packaged: 2019-03-11 11:32:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,583
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13523361
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Phoenix7/pseuds/Phoenix7
Summary: A series of one-shots centering around the three team leaders. Requests open!! No nsfw or inappropriate stuff, but if you feel that is should be tagged as such feel free to leave a comment. Have fun!





	1. Elementary

**Elementary**  
“Well, darling, what do you think?” Candela stood up first, easily as ever, as the red tinge faded from her hair and eyes. The smell of burning faded, too, becoming more like a lingering aftertaste.   
“You’re not too bad, you know,” she said, eying the bruises and cuts on her arms. “I thought you wouldn’t be able to give me even a scratch-beginners usually can’t.” One side of her face was bruised quite badly due to a well-aimed hit, and she moved her face noticeably less when she spoke. She flexed her arms gingerly, seeming pleased when she succeeded. “But no, you came right at me and basically smashed me to a pulp. Even though I did beat you, I mean. We can still say that it was quite a difficult fight. Which is rare for me nowadays.”  
“Yeah, because you’re so good at fighting.” This was accompanied by a sharp hiss as Blanche stood up, leaning heavily on the wall.   
“Precisely,” Candela replied proudly. “Glad you noticed, darling.”  
“This wasn’t supposed to happen!” Blanche burst out. “My plan was foolproof, it was perfect. I covered everything!” They licked their cut lips, a stinging reminder in more ways than one that victory could have been theirs - could have been -  
“Not everything, obviously. There’s one thing you missed out.” At this, Blanche frowned heavily, disliking how the brunette carelessly insulted their well thought-out plan. Didn’t she know how long they’d spent, calculating and recalculating all the possibilities?   
“You’re scared of Articuno.” This statement was delivered with a sort of blunt confidence, as though Candela had no doubt at all that they were scared of the Ice Titan.   
“I am not -“  
“You are, I’ve seen it. You’re scared of what Articuno will do to you, because you’ve seen Moltres and Zapdos take our human forms. That’s why you didn’t win. You, on your own, could never win anyone in a fight. But you won’t let Articuno in.”  
Blanche shook their head resolutely. They weren’t afraid of Articuno. And especially not because they’d seen Moltres and Zapdos spar. They were afraid of what they could do with Articuno’s help because they’d seen what Candela and Spark could do.  
“I can help you with that,” Candela continued, “if you don’t mind standing for a while more.”  
“What are you going to do?” Blanche asked, gesturing to Candela and immediately regretting it. They’d used the same arm that Candela had used to yank them clean off their feet, and the movement sent a sharp pain through their arm.  
Candela quirked an eyebrow at their wince, but didn’t stop. “I’m going to show you how to use your full potential.”  
She strode to the centre of the large room, which had a high ceiling and was normally used for Pokemon battles. Without her exerting any visible effort, a wisp of smoke escaped her lips. The Bond mark on her thigh glowed, though not as strongly as before, and her eyes and hair were also a few shades less red. She pulled back her arm, preparing to punch, and Blanche saw something change behind her eyes. Something wild stirred in their depths, and her lips curved upwards into a savage smile. Somehow, they could hardly sense Moltres. Most of this wildness came from Candela herself, from the very depths of her soul.  
She lunged forward to strike an imaginary target, and Blanche could see the trail of flames that her fist made as it flew through the air. Her bare feet(the high heels had been abandoned for the fight)made scorched footprints on the ground. The same burning smell filled the air again, making Blanche’s nose itch and their eyes water.  
“There. You’ve really got to chill, darling. In many ways.” Candela stepped out of the chalked box marking the bounds of the arena, grinning at Blanche’s expression of disgust.  
“That was an extremely lame pun,” they stated flatly, stepping carefully over the chalk. They removed a small silver medallion from their pocket, which was engraved with the symbol of Team Mystic. Holding it out before them, they closed their eyes and concentrated.   
_Breathe_ , they told themself. _In, out. In, out._  
They tried to find Articuno in their mindscape, all the while steadying their breathing. They hadn’t found Articuno yet, but the Bond mark on their upper left arm tingled, and they knew it was glowing bright blue. A rush of power spread through them, making their whole body shiver. With it came a sudden dread, like a grim reminder of what this power could do - what they could do with it.   
_In, out, in, out._  
“Focus, Blanche,” Candela was saying with gritted teeth.   
They tried to follow her advice, convincing themself that this could not harm anyone, would not harm anyone, because they were in control of it and not the other way round. They grappled with their thoughts for a while, and finally succeeded. And in that moment, the dread fell away. In its place was an electrifying feeling - hope, happiness, peace - and they stood there for a moment, relishing in it. Then, with more calm than they had thought would be possible, they focused their mind, directing the energy towards the medallion in their palm. There was a loud cracking noise.  
A cry of “You’ve done it!” made them open their eyes and look around. The medallion was covered with a thick layer of ice. Their eyes lit up in wonder, head seeking with all the newfound possibilities, but mostly just replaying Candela’s triumphant shout over and over again.   
“How did that happen?”  
Candela smiled at them, this childlike amazement such a stark contrast from their usual stuck-up demeanour. The smile gave way to a cheeky grin as she figured out how to answer them.  
“Elementary, my dear Blanche.”


	2. Elite

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> haha... haha. It's been a long time, hasn't it?  
> But - I think I'll probably stick around for a while now. Hopefully I'll finish requests by ??? the next two weeks? Sorry...

“You’re…” Lance frowned, staring down the little girl, hand still holding Dragonite’s Pokeball in shock.

“Doesn’t matter,” she said breezily, spraying a purple Potion on the wounds of her last Pokemon. Her amber eyes met his, and she grinned, completely oblivious to all the injuries she’d sustained.

“I don’t understand…” he mumbled, looking at Dragonite’s fainted form. The first victory against him in such a long time… and she was just  _ leaving _ ? As if this all meant nothing - the Pokemon League, the Elite Four, everything. Like all that was just incinerated, burned to ashes. But maybe that was exactly what happened. She was admirable… but he didn’t even know her name.

She began to walk away, a new spring in her step.

“Don’t go!” he called after her, but she shook her head. 

“Aren’t you the one who can understand Pokemon’s thoughts? You’ll know me whenever we meet again.”

Lance watched her leave, every step radiating hope and confidence. Like a warm fireplace in the middle of winter - dangerous and unpredictable, but still giving out light.

***

“I came here to study the old myth.” The tone of the child’s voice hadn’t changed at all, still quiet and calm. Like they hadn’t just knocked down a Garchomp. Not just any Garchomp, too. Her own Garchomp.

“You’re… amazing!” She returned Garchomp to its Pokeball, eyeing the slight figure at the other end of the arena. All through the battle, their stance had not changed. Calculating, but a calm presence even in the midst of chaos. Fierce, but always maintaining a completely serene appearance. Mysterious, but extremely close to their Pokemon. Who on earth  _ was _ this child?

“It was completely an accident that I ended up here at all. I can assure you, none of my meetings with the gym leaders or Elite Four members were intentional… except one.” They turned, a hint of a smile playing across their lips. 

“Until we meet again.”

“Wait!” she tried, but it was too late - they were gone. She sank down onto the battered arena, still holding Garchomp’s Pokeball. So, they were studying myths… Cynthia smiled, closing her eyes for a moment, her face pale and battle-worn.

“Until we meet again.”

***

“Wow…” The smoke slowly cleared, revealing the fainted form of Venusaur. The opponent’s Pokemon, a lively little Raichu, was still standing, an expression of triumph written all over its features. 

“... haha.” He stared down at his partner Pokemon for a while, before returning it back to its Pokeball. “... well. You won.” The young trainer grinned as Raichu, tiny for its species, scampered towards him and climbed onto his head.

“You were  _ awesome _ , buddy!” he cheered, giving it a Sitrus Berry. The Pokemon ate it with gusto, nibbling at it rapidly. He looked up, the blue eyes meeting a pair of brown ones. Something stirred within the dull brown eyes, and Red looked up, really seeing the blue sky for the first time in a while. The sunshine didn’t seem piercing anymore. On the contrary, it felt warm, and rather comforting.

“What’s your name?” he asked the kid abruptly, receiving only a shrug and an innocent smile in reply. 

“Hey - Red?” The kid called, as he made to leave. He turned back, and the smile was gone, not even leaving the smallest trace. The kid seemed older now, somehow - he looked solemn, almost scary.  _ Almost _ . Mt. Silver wasn’t full of rampaging Ursaring for nothing.

“Will you go back to Pallet Town?” he called out, as Red continued walking away, his small voice sounding further away than it really was. “Your mother’s really worried about you.”

Red stopped in his path, and the kid took his chance. 

“Red… will you go back home?”

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Anyone got the Sherlock Holmes reference


End file.
